Technological Innovations that will impact the 2023 General Election, by Samuel Folorunsho

Nigeria’s elections in 2023 will be a watershed moment for the country as it navigates a complex political landscape.

As the country works to create a more stable and prosperous future, technology will play a critical role in ensuring that elections are free, fair, and transparent.

Since INEC’s Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) initiative was able to identify approximately 2.7 million double registrations using technology in voter registration and also simplifying the voter registration procedure with the use of biometrics and digital data, this has eased the process for eligible persons to register to vote.

The IReV provides an easy way for citizens to verify the results, increasing credibility and preventing electoral malpractices in the electoral process.

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Also, as part of efforts to promote electoral integrity, Civil Society Organisations like Yiaga Africa will be deploying statistics and information technology as part of its Parallel Vote Tabulation election observation interventions.

The PVT deploys citizen observers to sampled polling units while providing accurate and timely information on the process through the feedback received via coded text messages and analysed via a technological database.

Thus the PVT can also verify the accuracy of election results that will be released by the electoral commission. This methodology has been used in more than 10 elections in Nigeria including the 2019 Presidential and other off-circle elections.